How to make dried soup anchovies/dasi myulchi at home

Hello everyone! I recently came across this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHDXp3E5b9g) when I was searching for substitutions for dried stock anchovies, since I’m running low and the nearest store that carries them is very far away. I thought the dried fish in the video looked familiar, and surprisingly, it was essentially the Japanese version of Korean dried anchovies; niboshi! Niboshi and myulchi seem to be prepared in a similar fashion; boiled in saltwater, and then dried. I probably should have realized how simple it was to make this sooner, since the cooking process was basically stated on the cover. In Japanese, Niboshi literally means “simmer dried”. I’ll write down the steps here for convenience.
Dried anchovies/dasi myulchi/niboshi:

What you’ll need:
– A pot
– 6 and 1/3 cups of water
– Fresh anchovies (or other small fish of your choice, ideally no greater than around 6 inches)
– 3 tablespoons and 1/4 salt
– An oven
If you’re using more water, just make sure that the water is 3% salt! The goal is to mimic ocean water by adding enough salt.
Preheat your oven to 250F. In the meantime, completely dissolve your salt in the water as it comes to a simmer on the stove. Make sure the salt is completely dissolved. Once it comes up to a gentle simmer, put your anchovies in. Be sure it doesn’t boil too violently as you put your fish in; they might break apart from all the bubbling! That being said, don’t worry if you end up breaking a few. Once a few minutes have passed, take out your fish. Be gentle, as they are very fragile. Line a baking tray with parchment paper, and carefully arrange your fish on it. Bake for 90 minutes, until fully dried. If it’s not done, keep going until it smells like a pleasant, nutty baked fish.
Alternatively, you could also dry these in the shade for a few days, but I doubt many people have time for that!

Additionally, you may also use any kind of small fish you have available to you. Although it’s not going to be myulchi, you can use it as a very close substitute if you can’t find dried anchovies for your next stock! In the video linked, he used a fish native to Hawaii called oama, and also talked about using different types of fish such as smelt, sardines, etc. I’ll echo his advice and suggest you play around with whatever small fish you have in your area!

I hope it’s okay that I posted this recipe despite not actually coming up with it. I figured it would be a good resource for those having trouble sourcing dasi myulchi.